All articles tagged with #ben delo
A second crypto billionaire, Christopher Harborne, donates about $48.7 million to Reform UK, matching Ben Delo's prior gift and lifting total pledges to about $97 million since Friday. The donations coincide with a Metropolitan Police probe into possible illegal foreign contributions, drawing criticism from Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch as Reform positions itself as a challenger to the mainstream parties.
Crypto billionaire Ben Delo, BitMEX co‑founder and Giving Pledge signatory, has given Reform UK £36m—the largest political donation in UK history—with longtime donor Christopher Harborne matching the amount; Delo’s background includes Oxford education, high‑frequency trading work, a 2022 US conviction for AML failures at BitMEX (30 months’ probation and a $10m fine) and a presidential pardon, and he says his philanthropy is guided by rationalism and a push for governance renewal ahead of the next general election.
Reform UK has received a second £36m donation in as many days, with crypto investor Christopher Harborne matching Ben Delo's record donation to push the two-day total to £72m, surpassing all of last year’s UK party fundraising. Harborne has already donated to Reform and its leader, Nigel Farage, who is under scrutiny by the parliamentary standards commissioner over whether he should have declared Harborne's £5m cash gift prior to the 2024 election; Farage says the gift was private and not connected to his political duties.